Cracks on the Mirror's Edge
by la lune du sang
Summary: Basically, it's a version of the game's storyline told from the point of view of my own character, Fox. As you can probably guess, he's a runner. He'll shadow Faith and accompany her through the game's storyline. Hope you guys out there like it!
1. Introduction

The man walked over to the ledge and sat down, letting one leg hang freely and keeping the other propped up and reclining his arm on it. Now, this would have been a normal thing for a person to do except for one thing: he was sixty feet above the streets. He sighed and looked out over the vast expanse of the city, sending waves of resentfulness with his glance as he ran his hand through his medium-length brown hair. He turned his head as he heard a footstep behind him. Approaching him was a woman in a pair of white pants and a black tank top.

"Hey Faith," he said cheerily, "what's up?" The woman came and sat on the ledge next to him.

"Merc told me I'd find you here, Fox," Faith said looking at him, "he also said he wants to talk to you about a job." She finished and looked over the gleaming white towers of the city. A slight wind blew, making Fox's red-orange scarf flutter in Faith's face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was time for him to do what he did best: run. See, he was a runner. He was a member of a system of elite couriers who carried secret messages under the government's nose. They saw the world in a different way; no path too outrageous, and no risk too great. They were trained in the art of movement and escape; acrobats and risk-takers that moved high above the city's streets. They didn't need cell phones, in fact, phones were poison to them. The government strictly monitored any and all electronic communications throughout the city.

Fox stood up and stretched. He reached into the pocket in his blue pants and pulled out a pair of fingerless gloves the same shade of reddish-orange as the scarf around his neck. He slipped the gloves over his hands and performed a few pre-running stretches to loosen up his muscles as Faith climbed to her feet.

"I'll meet you back at Merc's place," she said, "I've got something to do first." Fox looked at her, noticing the familiar tattoo under her right eye and the strip of ink resembling a circuit board running the length of her right arm. He had the same design running down his left side; all runners had it tattooed somewhere on their bodies. He waved at her as he turned around.

"Alright then, see you around!" Fox then broke into a run, gaining speed as he approached the edge of the building. He glanced around, quickly spotting the closest rooftop. He reached the edge of the building and gave a large push with his trailing leg. He flew through the air, easily clearing the twenty foot gap and falling a short ten feet before landing on the roof and continuing his sprint. Legs pumping, Fox dashed across the rooftop, vaulting over and ducking under the system of pipes that were strewn about the roof.

After about a solid hour of high-flying acrobatics, Fox leapt one final time and landed with a roll on one rooftop. He stopped running and began to walk over to the hollowed-out air conditioning unit that Merc used for his hideout. He climbed easily to the top and entered through the 'door' where there was once a fan. As he dropped down, he saw Merc sitting in his usual spot; staring into computer screens and monitoring the communications between cops.

"'Bout time you got here," Merc said turning around in his chair, "I thought the cops might have got you." He smiled mischievously at the younger man who had just entered.

"Oh, shut up," Fox replied with a smirk of his own, "what've you got for me?"

"I've got a request from Oust. He wants to see you to discuss some important business. He wouldn't tell me what it was; just that he wanted you to meet him at his apartment in about half an hour." Merc was using that matter-of-fact tone that he always used when he was discussing business. He turned and tossed a radio earpiece to Fox, who snatched the small device out of the air and attached it to his right ear. He stood up and rubbed his hands on his black tee-shirt.

"I'd get moving," Merc said to him, "the wires are quiet right now, but I can't promise you they'll stay that way." Fox nodded and climbed out of the HQ. He turned to the east and dropped down to the roof of the building. _Let's see, Oust's place is about four miles from here_, he thought to himself,_ and it looks to be about 3:30. Shit, I'm gonna have to move fast. _It was dangerous to run after dark. The visibility was horrible and you could hurt yourself…or worse. There had been a few young runners who thought it would be better to run in the dark; they had used the 'cover of night' excuse. Well, the night sure did cover that ledge that they fell off of.

He took off running, leaping to the next rooftop with ease. He continued to dash across this roof top until he noticed the next was too far away for him to make the jump. Luckily, his runner training allowed him to spot ways out of situations like this. He noticed a pipe extending down the side of the building and aimed for it. As he approached the edge, however, he stumbled over a small pipeline that he hadn't spotted. There wasn't enough time for him to stop. Fox gathered all the strength he could in his legs and pushed off from the edge. As he flew through the air, he knew he didn't have enough momentum to make the jump. As he neared the pipe, Fox whipped the scarf from around his neck, gripped it by one end, and slung the other end at the pipe. The scarf caught the pipe, and pulled taught. Fox swung to the wall of the building and hauled himself up to the pipe. He wrapped the scarf back around his neck and clambered up the pipe and onto the rooftop.

"I told Merc this thing was a good idea, he said proudly, "I knew it wouldn't slow me down." Merc had been strongly opposed to a runner wearing any kind of loose clothing, especially anything around the neck. But days and days of heckling had finally broken him. He gave in to Fox's demands and the very next day, Fox had the scarf around his neck. However, it wasn't just a normal scarf. It was made of a reinforced polymer that was much stronger and more durable than any normal piece of clothing. It also had a weight at one end that Fox had created to act as a sort of grappling hook to help him reach higher places…and save him from the occasional slip-up. After making sure to double check the rooftop for any small pipes, Fox dashed of and continued making his way to his contact.

**............**

Fox landed on the roof of Oust's apartment building with a roll. He walked to the rooftop access door and entered. A short flight of stairs took him to the top floor of the building. He glanced down the hall at the elevators, grimaced, and entered the stairwell. After dashing down several floors, Fox passed stopped in front of the door to the 67th floor. He entered the door and walked down the hall, glancing at the apartment numbers as he passed. When he arrived at the desired door, he knocked twice and listened to the sound of things being hastily shoved into temporary hiding spots. _Well, that's Oust for you._ Fox smiled as the thought ran through his mind. _Always paranoid that every visitor wants to…well, oust him. _After a few moments, the door was opened by an athletic looking black man.

"What you want, ya damn cops," he said before spotting Fox, "I ain't done nothin' illegal, mon! Ah, Fox, I was expectin' you. Come in, mon!" Fox entered the apartment and Oust closed the door behind him, locking the three lock fastened to the door.

"Merc told me that you had something for me," Fox said, "What can I do for you?" Oust took a seat on a large leather recliner positioned against one of the walls. He reached under the chair and pulled out a bag with a strap connected to it. Fox recognized it instantly. They were called "runner's bags," and with good reason. These bags were the packages that the runners carried across the city; they were the lifeblood of the underground resistance movements, and they were a runner's greatest responsibility.

"I have a client with one of the more 'prestigious' rebel groups," Oust began to explain, "who is awaiting this package. His headquarters is on the southern edge of the city and all my runners are out on assignment. I need you to run this package across the city, mon. You don't have to go all the way to my client 'cause I have a runner that can rendez-vous with you and transport it the rest of the way. So," he said smirking at Fox, "are you up for a little exercise, mon?"

"You know it." Fox grinned at Oust as the man tossed the bag across the room to him. Fox gave it a glance. He recognized the yellow and black design of the bag; the runners' trademark. He wasn't allowed to open it; the information contained inside was for the client's eyes only. Oust stood up and began to walk toward the back room of his apartment.

"By the way, both Merc and I will track you. Now, get goin', mon." as Oust finished the last sentence, Fox was already heading out back into the hallway. Oust laughed.

"Runners," he said in between laughs, "never know what they're doin' next, mon."


	2. Chapter 2

As he walked back down the hall, he could hear the ding of the elevator opening at the other end. He disregarded the fact that someone had come out…at least for a few seconds.

"There he is!"

"Freeze! Get up against the wall!"

"Stop runner!" The variety of shouts that came from the police were normal. What wasn't normal was the bullets that accompanied their words.

"Shit." Fox heard himself curse as he started running down the hall. Bullets whizzed by his ear, and he could hear the metal shells ricocheting off the walls of the narrow hallway. When he reached the stairwell door, he kicked it in and started dashing up the stairs, taking them two, three, and even four at a time. The cops followed into the stairwell and sent bullets flying up towards him. _What the hell?!_ Fox thought as he sprinted up the steps. _ Why the hell are they shooting?!_ Retracing his steps, he arrived in the hallway of the top floor, where more cops had come up in the elevator. Fox raced up through the rooftop access stairway and out onto the roof. Without even stopping to think, Fox ran toward the edge of the building a leapt to the next. He somersaulted on his landing, allowing him to keep his momentum and continue running.

"Nice job, Merc," Fox said into his earpiece, "I thought you were monitoring the wires."

"I was," Merc answered back, "they didn't say anything about this. And before you ask, I don't know why they're shooting. Look, you've only got about an hour left 'till it's dark, so hurry your ass up and deliver that package, I don't want to have to train another runner."

"Don't worry," Fox assured Merc amid the hail of bullets, "I'll be fine. The cops can't catch me. You just do your job and keep a watch on the wires. I'm already headed that way." Fox leapt from rooftop to rooftop; scampering over ledges and sliding under pipes. He traveled about a mile like this before his earpiece buzzed to life.

"Watch out, Fox," Merc warned, "the wires are hot. They've got pursuit cops comin' your way. Oh," he added as an afterthought, "they sent out a bird, too." Fox leapt to the next rooftop, landing with a roll and continuing to run. Suddenly, the rooftop access door in front of him burst open and two men dressed in dark green CPD pursuit uniforms came charging out. They spotted him instantly and ran straight for him. Without stopping to think, Fox dashed right at them, ducking a punch from the first and using the second as a vault to dodge his tackle. He ran to the edge of the roof and let himself fall to a lower outcropping of the building. The two cops followed close. As Fox traversed the ten foot distance between his rooftop and the next, he heard the whirr of helicopter blades getting steadily nearer. Just a few seconds later, the roof exploded around him from the impact of the bird's machine guns. Fox dashed for the nearest rooftop access door, kicked it down, and dove inside, just as the ground he had been standing on just seconds before was obliterated by gunfire. He proceeded down the stairs and into the atrium of an office building.

He paused for a moment to let the beating of his heart slow. He walked cautiously to the railing and glanced down. He didn't see any cops down there, and the pursuit cops had to pause to keep from perishing in the bird's gunfire.

"Hey Merc," he said into his earpiece, "you got a way outta here for me?"

"Just a sec," was the reply as Merc pulled up the schematics of the building in which his runner was pinned.

"Alright," Merc said, "there's a ventilation shaft about five floors down from where you are. If you take it, you should reach the maintenance rooms. I'll give you more when you get there." Fox jumped over the railing and lowered himself cautiously down to this floor's ledge. He took a second to line himself up, and dropped. He grasped the railing of the next floor and felt a shooting pain through his arm. This wasn't new to Fox; dislocations came frequently due to the physically demanding job of the runners. After hauling himself up and over the railing (which was rather difficult using one and a half arms), he forced his arm back into place with a grunt of pain. He rotated his arm a few times to make sure it was alright and took off for the stairs leading to the next floor. It was then that he realized; he hadn't heard from Oust since the cops started shooting.

"Oust! Are you there?" Fox shouted into his earpiece. "Answer me!" After a few moments of panic, Fox heard the wire buzz to life.

"Don' worry, mon. I'm alright," the Jamaican accent announced, "for now. 'Dose coppers didn't know which apartment you came out of, mon. 'Dey couldn't arrest me if dey wanted to."

"I don't think they're worried about arrests today," Fox said as he continued to move down stairs, "I think they want to kill us." The wire was silent for a moment.

"I know," Oust said, "I heard all tha shootin outside my apartment. I was afraid dey got you, mon. I couldn't call 'till dey left or dey woulda caught me." Fox couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief for the safety of his friend. He continued until he reached the floor that Merc told him about.

"Alright Merc," Fox said into his earpiece, "where's that vent shaft?" Before Merc could even reply, he heard several doors on floors both above and below him explode open accompanied by the cries of the CPD police. He peered over the railing and saw the men rushing into the building. A few of them took up positions on the ground floor, while the rest headed for the stairs.

"Merc," Fox demanded, "vent shaft, NOW!"

"Take the door to your right," Merc said, "and head down that hall." He began giving Fox step-by-step directions.

"Alright now turn at the end...Good, now head down a few feet and hang a right…now it should be in the fourth office on your left." Fox entered said apartment and spotted the vent shaft. As he yanked the cover off of the wall, bullets began flying into the small office, filling the desk and wall with holes. Fox hauled himself into the vent and started to crawl through the metal shafts. As he rounded a corner in the shaft, he could hear the shouts of the cops as they were trying to scramble troops to get him.

"Alright Merc," Fox said, "where to?"

"I'm gonna try to get you to the roof," the tracker replied, "so, when you get to this next intersection, go up. Good, now take a right….now a left…keep goin' straight…now go right and that grate should lead you into a small maintenance room." Fox kicked the grating off the wall and dropped down to the floor. He went through the door and walked down the hall to the rooftop access stairway. Within a minute, he was back on the building's roof. Fox turned his head and examined the skyline, searching for the police copter.

"How are the wires, Merc?"

"Clear for now, but I'm not sure that'll last long. You're not that far from where you're supposed to meet Oust's runner, so get your ass moving." Fox took off and leapt to the next rooftop, clearing the small gap with an acrobatic ease. He continued along, leaping from rooftop to rooftop until Oust's voice rang in through his earpiece.

"Alright, mon," he said, "Aphonia should be 'round dere somewhere. Don't worry if she don't talk to ya'; she's just that way. Now, hurry, mon. It's gonna be dark soon, and I don't want ya to fall."

"No problem," Fox replied, "thanks, Oust." Fox slowed to a walk and began combing the rooftops for a glimpse of the girl, Aphonia. Suddenly, he heard a shrill whistle off to his left. He turned and saw a black-haired woman waving her hand in the air. He ran and leapt to the building she was on, hauled himself up, and walked over to her.

"Here you go," he said with a smile, "on runner's bag, straight from Oust."

"Thanks," she said simply, "and goodbye." She took the bag, turned around, and dashed off, ready to transport the package the rest of the way. He looked at her retreating figure, clad in a black body suit with a red skirt. Her black hair was about shoulder length and hanging freely. On her forehead was a red headband, and her runner's tattoo was on the left side of her neck and her left shoulder. As he watched her leap from the roof, his earpiece buzzed to life.

"Alright, now get your ass back here before it gets dark," Merc said, "I don't want to see you on the 6:00 news as a smear on the street." Fox chuckled.  
"Okay, okay. Calm down, Merc, I'll be there soon."


	3. Chapter 3

**Whoo-hoo! Finally got chapter 3 up and running! Sorry for the wait, guys, but I'm trying to get all my stuff for college strait and fighting with the lady at the Financial Aid Dept. Anyway, here's the next chapter hope you guys like it.**

**Legal Blabbity-Blah: I don't own Mirror's Edge. If I did, it probably wouldn't be as good as it is. All original characters and content (including the story itself) are owned by me and cannot be used without permission from me, so if you want to use it, just ask me first!  
**

* * *

Activity from his clients had been light since the police took up their streak of violence against runners. No one wanted to risk losing any of these elite couriers. So, with noting to do, Fox made his way to the runners' training grounds. Before he got too close, he looked around to make sure there were no blues or City Eye news choppers around watching him. Those damn newsies had a tendency to tip off the cops when they spotted a runner. When he felt that it was safe, he floated over the gap between the building he was standing on and the next, entering the runners' training grounds. In actuality, there were no official training grounds; it was merely a term used to describe and area that contained all different aspects of the city rooftops and their features.

Fox glanced around and noticed he wasn't alone. He spotted several other runners who had come to the training grounds to hone their skills. Without hesitation, he joined them. He bolted across the rooftop and vaulted over a fence. Continuing his run, he slid under a pipeline and leapt from the nearby ledge, rolling upon his landing on the next rooftop. Fox sprinted off, vaulting a small AC unit and leaping out onto a narrow pipe stretching across the gap between rooftops. He balanced his way across and stopped for a moment to survey his surroundings. Straight ahead of him, a fence loomed up with an ominous string of barbed wire running along its length. To his right was the wall of the building and to his left was a sort of make-shift ramp made from sturdy plywood and weighted down at one end with cinderblocks and bricks. These were common across the rooftops of the city and had been installed by the runners to aid in their ledge-hopping.

Fox backed up against the building's wall and bent down into a track start stance. After taking a gulp of air, he ran as fast as he could at the ramp. He dashed out onto it and leapt off, the ramp protesting slightly over the extra weight. He planted both feet into to brickwork of the next building and stood straight, letting the light from the sun warm his face. _Ah, this is the life!_ He smiled and took a deep breath of the afternoon air. Several of the other runners had stopped to applaud at Fox's performance. He waved at them from where he was standing. Suddenly, his earpiece buzzed to life.

"Fox," Merc's frantic voice sounded over the comm. piece, "Faith fell; you need to get to her like, five minutes ago!"

"What," Fox practically screamed into his comm., "you're kidding, right?"

"No. Faith. Fell. Move your ass southeast, now!" Fox dashed off like a bat out of hell in the direction Merc had mentioned. He knew Merc sounded like an asshole right now, but he also knew why. In her present state, Faith was a sitting duck if any of the CPF happened by. What's worse, she was sitting on the ground, so it would be relatively easy for the blues to spot her. Fox wasted no time in clearing a quarter of a mile of cityscape before Merc's voiced fizzled in.

"Okay, she's about six blocks from you, just keep running straight. And be careful kid," he said, "I know you want to get to her, but don't be in so much of a hurry that you go and fall, too." Fox didn't reply; he wanted to save his breath for the trip back carrying Faith. It took him about five minutes to clear the remaining distance between him and his friend. He slowed to a stop on the edge of the rooftop and looked frantically around to try and spot her. He glanced down a nearby alleyway and managed to spot her. She had done a good job of pulling a nearby piece of cardboard over her so she was at least partially hidden from any prying eyes. He crossed a small gap between rooftops and scrambled down the building's fire escape. As soon as his feet hit the concrete, he dashed over to her.

"Faith," he said in a loud whisper, "Faith, are you okay?" The only reply he got was a groggy, pain-filled groan. Without a minute of hesitation, he lifted her up onto his back and headed back up the fire escape. Faith was apparently coherent enough to realize to wrap her arms around Fox's neck so he could use his own arms to climb. When he reached the top of the building, he paused.

"Hey Merc," he said, "can you find me a way to get back to your place without many large gaps or big climbs? I don't know how much I'll be able to do carrying Faith."

"Yeah," came a reply after a few seconds, "give me just a sec to pull up some maps here."

............

Upon his arrival at Merc's place, Fox found the man already waiting for them with a med kit close by. Fox walked over and set Faith down on the couch. He stepped back and let Merc examine the woman. After a few tense moments, Merc spoke up.

"Thankfully it's not too bad," he said with evident relief in his voice, "just some broken bones and a few scrapes and bruises. She will be out of commission for a while, though. Can you pick up any jobs her clients want done until she gets all healed up?" Fox nodded and breathed his own sigh of relief.

"Hey Merc," he said tentatively, "how close were we?"

"A few minutes," the man said frowning, "just a few minutes. Blues didn't know she was there; they were answering a call downtown. If she had still been there, though, I doubt there would've been a happy ending." Fox just stood there for a few seconds with a scowl on his face before cursing and moving to the hole in the roof of Merc's place.

"Merc," he said angrily, "what the hell happened to this city?"

"I don't know kid," Merc replied as Fox lifted himself out of Merc's place, "I just don't know…"

............

Fox sat on the ledge of a skyscraper and looked out over the white expanse of the city. He hated it; every single inch of snow-white city dotted with oranges, blues, and greens. He wished he could go back to the time when he didn't hate it. He wasn't very old at the time, so he didn't remember much. The government never meddled in things that didn't concern them; people were free to make phone calls without being monitored and traced. Then, Callaghan got elected and the changes came. They came slowly, but still all too fast for some. Soon, there were security cameras _everywhere_ and you couldn't make a phone call without some government suits somewhere knowing about it and listening to every word you said. Say the wrong thing, and blues showed up at your apartment and hauled you off to stand trial. There had been some that had resisted, both peacefully and violently. The word "November" had been all but blacklisted since that time of change.

The government claimed that the changes were for the good of the people, but some of the people didn't agree. One of the peaceful protests outside the Shard had turned into a riot, and several innocent protesters had been caught in the crossfire, including Fox's parents. He actually remembered seeing Faith there with another small girl. She had told him before that her parents had also been killed in the November Riots, so it wasn't very hard for the two of them to become quick friends. He had helped her break into Merc's place, then accepted Merc's offer to be trained in parkour and become a runner. And here he was a few years later, fighting the government that had taken his parents from him. Merc and Faith had become like siblings to him, and he wanted to do everything he could to protect them, especially Faith. His thoughts were interrupted by his comm. piece buzzing.

"Hey kid," Merc's voice came through, "it's getting dark, time to come back."

"Yeah, yeah," Fox said after a second, "I'm coming." He stood up, stretched his legs and arms, and took off toward Merc's lair.

* * *

**Okay, I wasn't planning to do a prolouge of any kind, but I needed to do some "in-game research" to make sure that I get all my facts straight and progress my story the same way that the game did, so this is sort of a "buy-time-to-do-research" chapter. Also, I did use it to describe Fox's backhistory and to describe some of the game's as well. I also noticed a few discrepancies in my first chapter: the city's police force is abbreviated CPF not CPD (as I said in chapter 1); the pursuit cops weren't included in-game until later. Sorry for the little mix-up; I hope it doesn't ruin the story for anyone.**

**I've already started typing chapter 4, so the next update shouldn't be too far away. Also, check out my other stories and look for upcoming stories for Code Geass, Bully, Code Lyoko, and Total Drama Island!**

**See ya'll next time!**

**La lune du sang  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Here it is (finally), Ch. 4 of my ME fanfic. Sorry I haven't been able to update in a while. If you want the reasons, read my updated profile.**

**And now, behold:  
**

* * *

It had been about six or seven months since Faith's accident. By now, she had fully recovered and was ready to get back out into the city. Merc had forced her into training to make sure she was ready. Fox had laughed at her grumbling under her breath when she got back to Merc's, and now he had a bruise on his shoulder to show for it. Since then, Faith and Celeste had been sent on a mission to deliver a runner's bag, the blues shooting at them the whole way through. Before she even got back to Merc's, she radioed in that she was heading towards Robert Pope's office. Merc had turned and tossed a comm. piece to Fox.

"Meet her there," Merc told him, "and tell her she can whine all she wants. I can't have the blues gunning her down, and she stands more of a chance with you around." Fox nodded and leapt out of the gutted AC cooling unit that Merc called home and dashed off to Pope's office.

After about fifteen minutes, Fox spotted Faith and let out a shrill whistle. Faith stopped and looked around. She spotted him and waved for him to come over. Fox leapt across two rooftops and landed next to the raven-haired woman.

"What are you doing here?" Fox could hear the annoyance in her voice and read the anger and surprise in her face.

"Merc sent me," he replied, "and he told me he's not listening to your 'whining.' Apparently I'm tagging along whether you like it or not." Faith stood with her hands on her hips and locked her almond eyes with Fox's heterochromatic grey and amber ones (**AN: for those of you who don't know, heterochromia is the condition of having two different colored eyes. In Fox's case, his left eye is violet and his right is grey)**.

"Hey," Fox said shrugging, "don't shoot the messenger." Faith smiled and placed her hand to her ear.

"Merc…" She was about to open her mouth when she was cut off.

"Look," Merc's voice came over both their earpieces, "I don't want to hear it. Fox is going with you and that's final."

"But…"

"I. Don't. Want. To. Hear. It. You two better get moving, blue traffic's been up lately, and I don't need the two of you getting caught."

"Well," Fox said grinning, "you heard the man!" Faith scowled at him and turned, waving for him to follow. The two of them made their way off of the rooftop they were standing on and to a small outcropping of the building where Pope's office was. They forced open a door and made their way down a short hallway to an elevator. Faith mashed the button and the doors spread open. The couple entered the elevator and Faith pressed the button to the floor where Pope's office was.

"Man I hate these things," Fox said leaning against one of the walls, "they're way too small and cramped. It's like being backed into a corner." Faith simply nodded in agreement. Elevators were like taboo to runners. If the blues managed to corner you in an elevator, you'd better kiss your ass good-bye. More than one good runner had fallen prey to cops waiting just outside the elevator's doors.

After what seemed like an eternity to the two runners, the heavy steel doors slid open. Fox followed Faith up a short set of stairs and into and office. The first thing Fox's eyes spotted was the CPF cop standing in the corner of the room. As if she sensed his distress, Faith spoke up.

"Don't worry," she said reassuringly, "that's my sis, Kate."

"Ah," Fox said as the hairs on the back of his neck relaxed, "I was worried there for a second. She must have been the other girl I saw you with way back during the November Riots. Why didn't you tell us before that you had a sister?"

"Well," Faith said, "we haven't gotten along very well for the last few years." Faith walked up to the desk in the room, where a man was laying face down on the desk in a pool of his own blood.

"Kate," Faith said examining the body, "what going on?"

"You don't recognize him?" Kate sounded surprised at Faith. "That's Pope."

"What," Fox yelled, "what the hell's going on here?"

"Kate," Faith asked, "you didn't…"

"No!" Kate cut off her sister in mid-sentence. "Of course I didn't kill him! He called me over so he could talk to me. When I got here he was just sitting at his desk, writing. We talked for a while, then everything went black. When I came to, he had been shot, and I'm pretty sure it was with my gun." **(AN: I tried to take this dialog excerpt from the game as best I could, please forgive me if it's not exact!) **Faith walked over to examine Pope and removed a piece of paper from his hand. She examined it and stuck it in her pocket. Fox stood looking out the window and let the rest of the girls' conversation become white noise. Suddenly, he spotted something that made his heart jump a little.

"Um, Faith," he called to her and pointed down at the street, "you might want to take a look at this." Faith walked over and looked down out of the window. Amongst the gleaming white buildings of the city, she spotted the flashing red and blue lights of CPF squad cars speeding in their direction.

"Faith, Fox," Merc called to them over the earpiece, "blues are headed your way; you need to be heading out of there. Now." Fox moved to the door, stopping for a second to take a glance at Pope's body. _Damn it, _he thought, _he could have changed this city for the better._ He started back toward the door when Merc chimed in again.

"Hey," he said annoyed, "the two of you need to be outgoing like, oh, NOW!" Faith embraced her sister before joining Fox and the two runners exited the office.

No sooner had their feet touched the carpeted floor outside of the office when the elevator chimed and out walked several CPF cops clad in their black body armor with their machine guns held up at the ready.

"Faith, go," Fox ordered her, "I'll keep them busy." He dashed down the stairs before she had a chance to reply. Faith sighed and ran off down a nearby hallway. Three of the cops gave chase to her, while the other three had their guns pointed at Fox, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs with his hands up.

"Alright, alright," he told them, "you've got me. I'm not gonna run, promise." He secretly prayed that the cops would believe him. If not, he probably wouldn't make it out of the building alive.

Luckily, they seemed to believe him, and one of the cops approached to handcuff him. As the man approached, Fox quickly knocked the gun out of his hands and grabbed the front of the man's armor, pulling him close and using him as a shield against the other cops, who weren't shooting for fear of hitting their comrade. Fox smirked and started to run as he pushed the cop into one of his companions, sending both crashing to the floor. As the third raised his gun to shoot, Fox slid in between his legs, grasping the man's ankles as he went. The cop swore and fell face first into the floor. By the time any of them had gotten off the ground, Fox had already rounded the corner and dashed off down the small hallway. He rounded another corner and sped down this new hallway, his eyes desperately searching for a way out. He spotted a staircase in the glass offices and sucked in a large gasp of air. Fox dove at the fragile glass wall, crashing through it and sending shards of glass tinkling across the floor. He rolled on impact and dashed up the stairs. He made his way over to the railing and kicked down the door connecting this room to the next. He spotted a vent on the far wall and dashed toward it. He pulled it off the wall and scrambled into it. He made his way through the vents, eventually emerging into a small hallway that led to a balcony. Fox walked out on to it and looked around. He spotted a series of pipes that would lead him to a smaller outcropping of the office building. He backed up as far as he could and dashed to the other end of the balcony. He ran across the wall and latched onto the first pipe. He slid down until he ran out of pipe and jumped over to the next. He slid down to the small rooftop and turned to make his way out across the city.

The sight that greeted his eyes made his heart stop. In the distance, he could see several cop cars set up over the surrounding area, but worse was the helicopter that was charging towards his current position.

"Hey kido," Merc's voice crackled, "get your ass over to the subway station. Krieg's gonna meet you there, then the two of you are gonna go pick up Faith. Watch your ass, blues have the area locked down tight; don't get shot." Fox ran and leapt from his rooftop to the next. Almost immediately after his feet touched the concrete roof, the bird spotted him and rained bullets down on him. Fox ran desperately, dodging over vents and sliding under pipes. He rounded a corner and spotted a doorway on the next rooftop. He leapt over to the door and shoulder-barged his way through it. The bird retreated as Fox found the stairs and made his way down to ground-level. He checked around before walking through the door. He dashed from alleyway to alleyway, making his way slowly toward the subway. After several minutes, he descended the stairs down into the dank station. He looked around trying to spot Krieg when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He quickly grabbed the figure's arm and flipped him over his shoulder.

"Ow, damn it!" Krieg swore as Fox released his arm and helped him to his feet.

"Sorry," he apologized, "I didn't know it was you." Krieg glared at Fox, then laughed and slapped him on the back.

"No worries," he said, "now, let's go get Faith." Fox nodded and the two men made their way to their rendez-vous with the girl.

............

Fox looked up and brought an arm over his face as Faith came crashing through the glass ceiling of the subway access tunnel. He glanced up to make sure the bird kept flying. Krieg helped Faith to her feet and she dusted herself off.

"You okay," Fox walked over to her, "that looked like it might've hurt."

"They got her," Faith said darkly, "they got Kate. They got her, and blues in jail never last long." Fox embraced her.

"Don't worry," he said, "we'll get her back. You're like my sister, remember, so that makes Kate my sister, too. I'm not gonna let anything happen to her, I promise." Faith looked up and saw the determination in his eyes.

"You'd better not," she said, "or I'm gonna kick your ass." Fox just smirked at her.

"C'mon," Krieg said, "let's get you two outta here." With that, Faith and Fox followed Krieg down the subway access tunnel.

* * *

**Ooohh, is this the beginning of a romantic relationship between Faith and Fox? Maybe...Only I know the answer (mwahahaha). **

**So, I'll try to update soon, but no promises ('cause I don't want to break any). Please R&R.**

**BTW, R&R my other stories (both current and upcoming) as well. For a list of current projects I'm working on, check out my updated profile. That's all for now.**

**Au revoir,**

**La lune du sang  
**


	5. Chapter 5

"No."

Fox sat on the couch in Merc's lair with his legs and arms crossed. He glared at Merc and Faith and scoffed. Overall, he resembled a child who wasn't getting his way.

"No, no, no, no, a thousand times fucking no."

"Look," Faith said bluntly, "I don't like him any more than you do, but he may be the only one who knows who's behind this whole thing."

"But Faith," Fox whined, "he's such a jackass."

"No kidding." The woman took an earpiece from Merc. "I'll say it again: I hate Jacknife as much as you, but I have to talk to him."

"Yeah," Merc agreed as he tossed a second earpiece to Fox, "and I don't want her going alone. Jacknife's a real snake in the grass and there's no telling if he'll lead you into a trap or not. If you go with her, at least the two of you can take him. And whine all you want," he added when Fox opened his mouth to complain, "you're going. Either that, or I can always play the concerned citizen and tell the Blues about that apartment downtown you rented under a false name."

Fox shoved the earpiece into his ear and begrudgingly followed Faith out of the hideout, mumbling something about Merc being an "underhanded manipulative bastard." Merc laughed at his young protege.

The two runners made their way across the city with no trouble until they dropped into the canals that led to the storm drains. That was when the Blues started shouting warnings from their helicopter shortly before opening fire. _Hey, at least they warned us this time. _Faith and Fox dashed down the drains, leaping over the floodgates and trying not to let the helicopter's machine guns turn them into a stain on the concrete. The young man followed Faith up onto the side of the drain and the two were about to continue running when Fox spotted the red dot on the back of Faith's shirt. He yelled for her to look out and quickly threw himself behind cover, pulling Faith with him shortly before the sniper's bullet flew by. She looked up and thanked him with her eyes. He nodded.

"I'll go out and distract him. You head in that door over there, I'll be right behind you."

Before she could protest, Fox was back in the canal. He noticed the red dot on his shirt, and quickly jumped out of the canal and dashed behind cover. He felt the air current of the bullet brush by his arm and exhaled. _Damn. So there are Blues that can _actually _shoot._ He spotted Faith heading through the door and quickly followed, narrowly dodging another bullet. By the time he caught up, she had already turned off a steam vent blocking their access to the next room.

"We'd better be careful," he said, "some of those Blues have actually learned how to shoot a gun. Now if they only ran, then they'd be a threat."

"Be careful what you wish for." Faith laughed and waved for Fox to follow her. He gave her a second, then followed her up some pipes and through a vent that gave them access to the next floor. One door later, they were outside, staring at one of the storm drains.

"They've got you surrounded," Merc said over the comm, "get down into the storm drains."

"I told you!" Fox pointed at Faith as they headed toward the drain amongst the wailing police sirens. "I told you nothing good comes of Jacknife!"

Faith simply rolled her eyes. The pair used two cranes and their payloads to help them down into the drain. As they made their way further underground, a chopper descended and began to pepper the area with bullets. Luck was on Fox and Faith's side, however, because the bird soon took back to the air, leaving the two runners to continue unhindered on their underground foray. Faith jammed her fist onto a button that raised a massive floodgate that allowed the two of them to continue. After raising a second floodgate, Faith and Fox found themselves in a large underground atrium. Merc informed them of an exit far above their heads.

"I _really _don't like this." Fox moaned.

"What are you?" Faith stopped and turned around. "A runner with a fear of heights? How laughable."

"Hey," Fox said, "I'm not scared of heights when there's a wide open sky above your head. At least if you fall there, someone might find you. You fall here, the only thing that'll find you is a rat, and I don't think little Ratty's gonna be able to carry you back to Merc's."

"Then don't fall." Faith smiled and winked at him before turning and clambering up onto the scaffolding that clung to the large pillars in the atrium. Fox followed, and soon they were nearing the top when Merc warned them of a sniper team.

"Great," Fox said dryly, "any more good news, Merc? They figure out how to send a bird down here, too?"

"Watch it, kiddo," Merc warned, "I may be older now, but I can still kick your ass."

Fox would've laughed, but there were snipers about, after all.

"You get out of here," he told Faith, "I'll take care of those snipers. I'll—"

"Be right behind me," Faith finished, "I know. You know, you don't always have to protect me."

"Yeah," Fox shrugged, "but I want to." He winked at her. "Once I take out that first sniper, just run, I'll 'borrow' his rifle to handle his friends."

Faith nodded. Fox took off and launched himself onto the platform where the first sniper was waiting. Since Fox was on top of him before he could line up a shot, the sniper decided to try and use the unwieldy gun as a club. Fox caught the gun mid-swing and thrust his palm into the sniper's face. The man dropped the gun, and Fox used the front of his body armor as a handle to flip the man over the scaffolding's railing and down to his death. Without skipping a beat, Faith was sprinting down to find a way onto the large cement columns as Fox aimed the gun across the room. He peered through the scope and spotted the first of the remaining two snipers. He quickly fired a shot and watched as the man slumped over. He followed suit with the last sniper as Faith began leaping across the columns. Fox dropped the gun and used a few pipes to get over to the next platform, where he was able to leap to the columns. He followed the path Faith had taken and was soon standing near a conveniently placed zip-line. He grabbed hold of it and swung across the gap, landing against the far wall. As he carefully edged closer to a door, he spotted the flashlights of the Blues that had followed them down into the drains. Luckily, by the time the Blues had noticed him, he and Faith were through the door and taking a 'fun' slide—down a still active drain—down to yet another floodgate.

"Aw," Faith said to Fox, "what's wrong? Aren't you having fun?"

"Oh yeah." Fox was in no mood to cover his sarcasm. "Loads. I'm soaking wet and running around in a freaking storm drain to go see some guy I'd like to throw off a building." Faith just laughed and activated the floodgate.

Fox was pleased to hear that the storm drain they'd just entered was their exit point. The pair parkour-ed their way out of the drain...only to find a few cops waiting for them. They managed to make it into the nearby building without any shotgun holes in them. They soon found themselves in an elevator as Merc told them not to let Jacknife get them riled up. _Yeah, that's gonna happen_. Fox sighed and leaned against the wall of the elevator.

"Calm down," Faith told him, "he'll only get to you if you let him."

"Okay 'mom,'" Fox laughed, "don't worry, I'll be fine. And if worse comes to worse, I can always dump him off the roof when we're done." Faith shook her head and laughed.

When the elevator opened, Fox took the lead. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind before opening the door. Sure enough, there stood Jacknife, a smug look on his face.

"Hey there Fox, Faith!" Those were the only words he offered the pair before he ziplined to the next building.

"I knewit! I _knew_ it!" Fox exclaimed as he and Faith began chasing Jacknife across the old training grounds. The dashed across the rooftops in hot pursuit of the former runner before Fox stopped.

"Go," he yelled to Faith, who was still on the chase, "I'll head him off." Fox wasted no time in using a nearby AC unit to climb to a higher roof that Jacknife was leaping onto. He dove at the man, but Jacknife dodged out of the way, leaving Fox to roll into the side of a power box.

"Nice try, Foxy!" The man yelled over his shoulder.

"I'm gonna kill him." Fox told Faith as she dashed by a second later. They continued to pursue him, their chase soon moving inside. As Fox rounded the corner just behind Faith, he saw Jacknife waving with that same smug grin on his face as the elevator doors blocked Fox from tearing his face off. Faith pulled him into the second elevator and mashed the 'up' button.

"Well?" She asked Fox after a second.

"Well, what?"

"Thought you were going to head him off."

"I did. He just managed to...move a bit faster than I anticipated."

"Oh really." Faith had a mischievous grin on her face. "Because what I saw was him dancing around your tackle and you taking a little dive into a power box like a newbie."

"Well you...must have been...hallucinating or something." Fox spoke with all the dignity he could muster while his face was the color of strawberries.

"Yeah," Faith giggled, "okay. By the way, you look cute when you blush."

Fox's blush deepened as the elevator chimed and the door opened, allowing Faith to laugh and head back out to the roof. Fox followed just in time to see Jacknife take a dive onto the next roof. He promptly fell over laughing.  
"Oh man," he said as he stood, "now _that_ was funny. Know what, Merc, I forgive you. That makes up for everything I had to go through to get here."

Faith slapped him on the forehead, although she did have to admit that watching Jacknife land flat on his back was pretty funny.

It didn't take them long to find a second way onto the rooftop and make their way over to Jacknife. He stood as they approached.

"Nice fall," Fox said, "tell me: how unskilled do you have to be to pull off something like that?"

"Oh I don't know," Jacknife replied, "about as unskilled as it would take someone to, I dunno, run headlong into a power box."

Faith had to hold Fox back for a minute before she could start asking questions. Out of Jacknife's entire explaniation, the only words Fox registered were "Travis Berfield." He was more concerned with imagining the different ways he could make Jacknife "trip" off of the roof. He really had to hold himself back from giving Jacknife a gentle little push over the edge when the man moved to the building's edge to point at the sign hanging from an adjacent building. Soon enough, though, Faith had gotten all the answers she needed and Jacknife was rounding the corner to leave.

"Good hunting Faithy. See ya, Foxy!" He waved to Faith and winked at Fox, which made the other man growl. Faith rolled her eyes and turned to leave.

…...

"Ropeburn, huh?" Merc typed the name into his computer as Fox and Faith reclined on the couch. "And you're really going after this guy?"

"We have to," Faith told him, "it's they only way I can save Kate."

"I'm with you," Fox put a hand on the woman's shoulder, "even if we have to break into the Blues' HQ, I'll be with you."

"Thanks." Faith closed her eyes and massaged her temples. This was the only rest she and Fox had gotten all day. Fox glanced outside as the sun was beginning to set.

"Alright," Merc said after a few minutes, "I don't have anything else for you today. Why don't you two go get some rest."

Fox stood and stretched as Faith began to make herself comfortable on the couch.

"Hey," Fox said to her, "I can't let you sleep here. Why don't you come back to my apartment? You can have to bed tonight and I'll just sleep on the couch."

"You sure?" Faith looked up at him.

"Yeah. Come on."

Faith grabbed the spare set of clothes she kept at Merc's place and stuffed them into a runner's bag and followed Fox out of the AC unit. He led her across tow to a small apartment building. The two of them descended to street level in an alleyway across from the building before crossing the street and entering the lobby.

"Hello Mister Smith." The lady at the desk looked up and greeted Fox as he entered. He waved to her and quickly led Faith to the elevators and pressed in the '5' button.

"Mister Smith?" Faith gave Fox a quizzical look.

"What?" He shrugged at her. "Should I have just told her 'hi, I'm Aaron O'Shay and I'm a runner looking to get a room here?'"

Faith laughed as the elevator doors opened and admitted the pair to the fifth floor. Fox led Faith down the hall to his apartment and unlocked the door and pushed it open. He allowed Faith to enter before closing the door behind her. The woman glanced around. The apartment wasn't very large, but then again, Fox didn't do much but sleep there anyway. The common area was connected to the kitchen and only held a small couch, a recliner, a coffee table, and a television on a stand. A single door led to the bedroom, and beyond that was the bathroom.

"Bathroom's in there," Fox pointed in the direction of the bedroom, "feel free to take a shower, if you want. If you need something to sleep in, I've got a few pairs of pajama pants and old shirts in the third dresser drawer. There's some pizza in the fridge, and you can watch TV if that's your fancy."

Faith nodded and went almost immediately into the bathroom. Fox snatched one of the pizza slices from the fridge and munched into it as the water in the bathroom started running. He sat on the couch and flipped the television to the CityEye news channel.

"Earlier today," the broadcast began, "city police pursued two suspects into the city storm drains. These suspects are believed to be the man and woman who stole evidence from the Robert Pope murder scene earlier in the week. The suspects managed to evade police, killing three officers in their escape." _Oops, my bad_. "In other news, police are continuing to question Officer Kate Conners in relation to the murder of city official Robert Pope. City Police have release no news pertaining to the answers Conners has given them, but she is still their prime suspect."

Fox turned off the television; he'd had all the news he wanted for the night. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to Faith, who had come walking out of the bedroom in the clothes Fox had offered her.

"Hey," he said, "our little escapade into the storm drains made the news."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Apparently were the city's most wanted now."

"Does that have anything to do with the cops you keep killing?"

"Hey," he grinned, "if they'd just go back to eating doughnuts and catching speeders, none of them would get hurt. And besides, you've killed your fair share of cops, too."

"I know." She grinned. "And I agree with you."

"Anyway," Fox said, "I'm going to shower before you grab the bed. Again, feel free to take a slice or two of the pizza in there." He pointed to the fridge before heading into the bathroom himself. He stripped off his dirty clothes and stepped into the shower. He sighed as the warm water splashed down onto his face and body. He stood under the water for a moment before quickly washing and grabbing a towel to dry himself off.

He moved into the bedroom and quickly put on a fresh pair of underwear and loose sweatpants. He let the towel hang around his neck as he walked back into the common area, where Faith had seated herself on the couch. She'd turned the television back on, CityEye news again, and they must have been talking about her sister because when Fox got around to look at her face, lines of concern were etched on it.

"Hey," he said as he sat himself next to her, "what's wrong?"

"Do you think she'll be alright?" Faith's voice cracked a bit as she asked him, her eyes still glued on the television.

"Of course."

"But what if we don't rescue her in time?"

"Hey." Fox grabbed Faith's shoulders and made her face him. "She'll be fine. I'm going to help you get her back, I promise. You don't have to worry. I'm not going to let anyone hurt her."

"Thank you, Fox." She said as she stared him in the eyes. "Thank you so much."

The two stared into each other's eyes as their faces moved closer and closer. Finally, their lips met and they began to kiss as Fox held Faith in his arms. Faith wrapped her arms around Fox's shoulders and kissed him some more, not wanting to let go. After a few minutes, their lips parted and Faith leaned her head against Fox's chest.

"You're right." She said after a moment, "We will get her back."

"I know."

"Fox...will you...sleep with me tonight."

"What?" Fox jerked uncomfortably. "Are you talking about..."

"No," she leaned away from him and slapped him on the shoulder, "I mean I just want you to share to bed with me." She stood and moved toward the bedroom. "And if you want to have sex, you're going to have to at least take me out to a nice dinner or something first."

Fox exchanged grins with her before heading into the bedroom. He pulled the sheets back and climbed into the bed, leaving plenty of space for Faith. The woman pulled the shirt off and tossed it into the corner, smirking at the disappointment Fox showed in the fact that she was wearing a bra.

"After you help me save Kate," she said, "_then_ we'll talk."

She climbed into the bed next to Fox and pressed her back against Fox's bare chest. The man wrapped his arms around his running partner. Right now, he didn't care about the City, or the Blues, or even Merc. To him, there was only himself and Faith, laying there in the dark room. _Faith...I promise, I'll help you get your sister back._


End file.
